The Bettle of ACCEPTANCE
by Amethyst-Gem
Summary: Naruto goes on a search for Sasuke but once he finds him will he come back home? Soon The two find themselves falling for eachother. Taking a risk they return home bu soon Tobi attacks the village wanting one thing...SASUKE!
1. Chapter 1

**THE BATTLE OF ACCEPTANCE**

**CHAPTER 1**

**FINDING**

It was quiet. The sun was just now peeking over the horizon, the birds just awoken and now singing as they flew around, stretching their wings, and as always a determined young blond was standing in the office of the Hokage.

Tsunade turned in her seat to face him. Her aid, Shizune and her pig, had quietly left so as not to get involved. The blond narrowed his blue eyes and eyebrows in determination.

"Naruto."

"Baa-chan."

They greeted each other.

"Naruto, you are here once every week, you know my answer, you know what I think. What more can I do for you?"

Naruto calmed down a bit and looked out the window almost in a daze.

"I have no training today, no missions either. So I'm leaving."

Tsunade frowned.

"Where?"

Naruto smiled. "I'm going to travel to some villages and see if they have any information for me and who knows maybe I'll finally find him. Maybe today God will finally answer my prayers"

"Sasuke is a rough ninja, an exiled ninja. Bring him here and I…"

"Then maybe I won't."

Tsunade sat back in her chair. Up till now their conversations involving Sasuke have been the same but this is a change that she doesn't like. She had a bad feeling.

"If I bring him here you will lock him up and have a court date with the other Hokage to determine his sentence. You think he may have to spend some time in jail or he will get the death sentence. They won't consider house arrest or, considering he did kill some of Konoha's greatest enemies, get of with a warning."

"I don't truly know what will happen, Naruto, I…"

"So I made up my mind."

Tsunade's eyes widened as Naruto picked up the backpack that had been sitting on the floor behind him.

"Naruto, think about this!"

"You know if you send someone after me they don't stand a chance now that I have all Kyuubi's powers. Just let me be. This is how it should be. He and I were meant to be together even if it means in exile."

Tsunade stood up to protest but Naruto was gone.

"IF YOU DON'T RETURN BY TOMMAROW NIGHT I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LABLE YOU A ROUGE!" She shouted knowing he could hear her still.

Naruto had left notes for Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi. As he passed the gates he stopped and looked back before turning and continuing on his journey.

...

Sweat dripped down his pale face, his raven hair soaked in it, taking each breath was becoming painful, and his chest heaved as he ran, jumped, and tried to remain quiet all at once. His pursuer was none other than Tobi also known as Madara Uchiha.

That's right…Sasuke Uchiha was finally running from the terrible things Tobi had set out for him to do. Manipulating him to get what HE wanted in the end.

All the lonliness, the bitterness, the lack of friendship, and a team that ACTUALLY cares finally got to him. Sasuke didn't want this! Itachi was dead and he knew that what Tobi wanted was NOT what his brother would want for him.

It took him a long time of stupid mistakes, hurtful words being said, running away, and having his mind set on revenge but the death of his brother did it.

Itachi would not want him to pursue the path he was on.

He needed to find Naruto but he was injured. Probably a broken arm, maybe even a few ribs, several deep cuts bleeding profusely, and he would defiantly be in pain from pushing himself as hard as he was.

Luckily it was only Tobi coming after him. His team had disbanded and did not care.

Darting his dark eyes back and forth for a hiding spot, Sasuke finally spotted a dark cave slightly hidden behind a waterfall. It was near Konoha too.

He quickly cloned himself and as he hid within the cave the clone continued in the direction he had been going to fool Tobi.

Once he saw Tobi fly by Sasuke went deep inside the cave and searched for a dry spot where he could start a fire and rest.

Gathering some twigs from nearby he started a small fire and unrolled the sleeping bag he had been carrying. After washing off and wrapping his wounds and creating a makeshift sling for his broken arm, Sasuke curled up into the sleeping bag and fell asleep.

...

Naruto groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead as he plopped down against a nearby tree. He had already ventured through 3 villages with no luck. Maybe he should just use his clone jutsu and speed up the search. He was about 7 miles away from the last village he checked and about 3 miles from Konoha.

It was late and the sun was setting. Pushing aside all 3 failures to find Sasuke, Naruto gathered his HUGE backpack and crawled into a nearby cave making sure he and his overly large backpack didn't get wet from the waterfall that fell rather close to the cave.

Suddenly Naruto caught a whiff of smoke. He followed it all the way to the back of the cave where a small fire burned.

"Ummm. Excuse me, do you mind if I camp out here…with you? It will only be for the night and I'll be gone in the morning!"

Naruto waited for a response but after receiving none he plopped his stuff down and scoped out the place.

It was a simple small, dry, area deep in the cave.

Bored Naruto slipped off his jacket leaving him in only his orange sweatpants and a blank tank top. Not caring if he got too wet he thrust his head into the waterfall soaking his face, hair, and neck instantly. Water trickled down his back as he pulled his head out. Shaking his head vigorously he managed to get some water out of his hair leaving it damp.

Sitting down in front of the fire, Naruto grabbed some of the twigs the person had gathered nearby and added them to the flames to make them brighter, keeping it from burning out.

Unrolling his sleeping bag, Naruto crawled in and lay on his stomach.

Looking into the fire he thought of the same thing that had been on his mind for several years now…Sasuke.

He wondered where he was right now, what he was doing, and if he was okay.

He knew Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, Kabuto, and some members of Akatsuki including Itachi.

Those were some of Konoha's biggest enemies.

Naruto sighed, "Where could he be hiding?"

"Where is who hiding AND WHO ARE YOU?" groaned the person who had been laying asleep across from him.

Naruto jumped into a sitting position in surprise. "I'm so sorry I…"

Naruto's jaw dropped as the man sat up.

"Sasuke?"

Dark eyes looked through raven hair at the blond sitting before him.

Those blue eyes… "Naruto."

...

AMETHYST-GEM:

It's been a long while since I posted anything. I didn't work too hard on this 1st chappie since it was already kinda thought out but if it gets enough attention I will continue it and give it a worthy plot for all my readers

I have no editor so if someone would like to step up and take that position I would very much appreciate it.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

As for the next chappie:

CHAPTER 2: TALKING: Sasuke and Naruto get over the shock of seeing each other and talk over Ramen. After getting more rest Naruto and Sasuke put things aside for some fun and training as well as learning.


	2. Chapter 2

**THE BATTLE OF ACCEPTANCE**

**CHAPTER 2: TALKING**

* * *

"Why are you…?" Sasuke started.

"I found you!" Naruto cried.

They both fell silent.

Naruto finally closed his big mouth and sat up in his sleeping bag.

Sasuke did the same but much more slowly. He leaned against the cave wall and winced as he accidentally bumped his broken arm.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the wounds Sasuke had as well as his arm.

"Sasuke, what happened to you?"

Sasuke shrugged slightly. "Just got into a small fight with Tobi."

"Tobi as in Madara Uchiha? How are you still alive?"

Sasuke looked away at the water flowing over the cave entrance.

It wasn't much of a fight really. He kept blabbing about the Uchiha clan long after telling me the truth and when I had enough I tried to walk out telling him to shut-up. He didn't like that so I tried getting by him and he fought back telling me I had great potential and we should work together. I got beat up a bit but managed to get by him."

Naruto was shocked but he knew Tobi wanted to use Sasuke not kill him.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto. "I ran fast and hard after that before hiding in here."

"Are you ok?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I learned a simple healing jutsu from Sakura do you want me to take a look at your wounds? They need some help."

Sasuke stared Naruto down before taking a look at his broken arm and his poor excuse for a sling and nodding.

Naruto slid out of his sleeping bag, grabbed his large first aid kit, and went over to Sasuke's side.

Taking off the sling Naruto pushed up Sasuke's sleeve to look at his arm.

"It's pretty beat up but nothing I can't handle." Naruto said and began slowly healing Sasuke's arm.

As they sat beside each other, Sasuke leaning against the wall while Naruto sat cross legged as he slowly healed his old friends arm. The green glow lit up the cave.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why did you run? Why did you leave? What about…"

"Itachi's dead." Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruto's eye's widened. "You wanna talk about it?"

Sasuke sighed. "I killed him but according to Tobi he was dying anyway that's why he went down so easily."

Naruto nodded to show he was listening as he moved on to some of the cuts Sasuke had.

"I ran because I didn't care for Tobi or his ideas."

"I think that was smart." Naruto said as he finished.

Sasuke looked away and nodded.

Naruto yawned and slipped back into his sleeping bag. Sasuke did the same muttering a quick 'thanks.'

* * *

The next morning Sasuke slept in while Naruto went for a swim.

After the swim Naruto began boiling a pot of hot water.

Once it began to boil he poured the water into his and Sasuke's cup of ramen.

Then he waited for Sasuke to wake which wasn't long as the smell of food and his hunger woke the raven.

"Morning!" Naruto smiled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but accepted his warm cup graciously.

"Ramen for breakfast?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Naruto shrugged. "It's nearly noon."

Sasuke snorted.

After slurping down his meal Sasuke headed to the pond to take his own bath. Naruto watched as he swam being over protective as usual.

"Are you gonna stand there all day or come down here?"

Naruto blushed when Sasuke called out to him. Gulping he jumped down and sat beside the pool of water.

"You don't mind that I'm here?" he asked.

Sasuke shrugged before diving into the water.

As he resurfaced he looked at the blond.

"Why are you here anyway?"

Naruto crossed his arms. "I…I left Konoha."

Sasuke swam over to the man. "Really?"

Naruto frowned. "I left to look for you."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he swam back a bit to get a good look at the man sitting before him. "Why?"

"You know why. I shouldn't have to say it over and over again."

Sasuke looked away. He did know why.

Suddenly Naruto got up and stripped down to his boxers and jumped in next to the unsuspecting and shocked raven.

"What the…!" Sasuke cried.

Naruto grinned and splashed him before swimming off.

Sasuke groaned before rushing over to the man and pulling him underwater.

They continued to have a water fight but suddenly Sasuke stopped.

"Naruto…" Sasuke started.

Naruto stopped splashing and looked over at Sasuke.

"You were right."

"What do you mean?"

"Revenge, it's meaningless. I didn't feel satisfied after killing my brother. After hearing the truth about him I actually feel bad."

Naruto swam over to Sasuke.

They stared into each others eyes for a second before Sasuke truly realized what he said. What he had revealed.

"Sasuke wait!"

Naruto reached out and grabbed Sasuke's arm pulling him back through the water till he was back in front of the blond but somehow this time Naruto had pulled him much closer.

Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry. I wish Ii had found you sooner. I can't tell you everything's going to be okay though because its not. Itachi isn't gonna come back but I do know that what Tobi said is true."

"What?" Sasuke cocked his head.

"I ran into him, Sasuke. I ran into Itachi and he was weak, slow, and fled before a real battle could really take place. I swore I saw him cough up some blood as he left though."

"So he was sick."

"Yeah, so no matter what he…."

Sasuke pulled away. "He would have died anyway."

Naruto looked away and nodded. Sasuke dove underwater again as he felt tears sting his eyes. He kicked and swam as long as his lungs could hold air before resurfacing. He pulled himself up onto the grass and grabbed his clothes before heading back to the cave.

Naruto groaned. "This is so complicated!"

He slowly let himself sink till his mouth was underwater and he was blowing frustrated bubbles.

* * *

That night Naruto snuck out on a quick trip to Konoha.

He arrived around 1 am. Avoiding the guards and being seen he went straight to the Hokages office where Tsunade was up drinking and doing last minute paperwork as usual.

"Baa-chan." Naruto called quietly from outside her window.

Tsunade gasped and turned quickly but seeing Naruto relaxed.

Naruto spent a several minutes explaining what was happening to her with Sasuke. He refused to say their exact location however. Seeing the boy had not gone rough Tsunade felt relieved and granted him a vacation as long as he sent her a written report every other day.

After speaking with her he stopped by Sakura's house. Sneaking in with the spare key she gave him he snuck in her room.

"Saskura!" He cried loudly waking the pink haired girl.

Sakura bolted up before falling out of bed.

Looking up she saw a big grinned Naruto.

Swiftly she punched the blond right in the jaw.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"

"Shh!"

"Look I just wanted to check on you and give you an update."

Sakura sighed and sat on her bed. Naruto spoke with her, telling her only small bits and pieces but still leaving her feeling like she was solving a mystery. But Sakura felt better knowing Naruto was nearby.

Before Naruto left she stocked him up on bread, ramen, and other foods. She gave him two more blankets and some cooking supplies as well as more first aid.

Naruto ruffled her hair before leaving quietly. He returned to the cave to find he had not woken Sasuke. Pulling out one of the blankets he draped it over the raven before climbing into his temporary bed and falling asleep himself.

* * *

The next morning Naruto awoke to the loud sounds of a upset ninja training.

Groaning he pulled himself out of bed and took a look outside the cave.

Sasuke was punching, kicking, and doing almost every fighting move taught to a ninja. Naruto sighed but his eyes widened when Sasuke began to create the chidori.

"Sasuke!"

Within seconds Naruto was standing behind Sasuke gripping his arm cause the raven to stop the chidori attack.

"Not here."

Sasuke pulled away from the blond.

"Fine." He muttered.

It was quiet, then Naruto smiled. "Hey, wanna spar?"

Sasuke looked at him for second before nodding.

Together they spent the day relieving Sasuke's stress by sparing and giving Naruto a nice workout as Sasuke was a formidable opponent.

Later Naruto stood on the water panting. Sasuke stood a distance away and had a triumphant smirk on his face.

Deciding to rest they lay on the grass catching their breath.

"So that's…3 out of 5." Sasuke gloated.

"Oh, shut-up." Naruto replied sarcastically.

After a quick swim they returned to the cave to cook some dinner.

* * *

That night Naruto couldn't help watching Sasuke as he slept.

What were these feeling he was feeling?

Could it be he was falling for the raven haired man?

That night Naruto barely got any sleep.

This was a change of events….

* * *

**AMETHYST-GEM: Well that's it for now.**

**I'm going to try getting the third one out by the end of next week.**

**Hope you like it so far.**


	3. Chapter 3

AMETHYST-GEM: Sorry for the LONG, LONG, LOOOONG wait but I had to take a break from writing due major writers block. I plan on updating this as much as possible now that I'm back in the game. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

CONFESSING

CHAPTER 3

Naruto groaned. Sasuke was at it again. The man just never took a break. He was always training.

Stretching, Naruto jumped down from the cave ledge. Landing near the large pond he cleared his throat to let Sasuke know of his presence.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared at the dobe. "What?"

Naruto stepped onto the water. "Don't you ever take a break?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why should I? You are still protected by Konoha but me…well you never know when you'll get attacked being a rouge ninja."

Naruto shook his head. "Well at least train with an opponent."

With that Naruto rushed at the raven. Sasuke managed to jump out of the way.

Standing apart from each other they had their arms up in a fighting pose with their legs spread ready for an attack.

They spent an hour battling each other before taking a swim.

Naruto crawled out of the pond and onto the grass where he plopped down and stared up at the clouds. Sasuke pulled himself halfway out of the water before resting his head on his arms.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you ever try to come back to Konoha? Like, what if I was with you?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond but the blond spoke before he could.

"Sakura and the gang miss you…and me."

"Naruto, I really don't know."

Naruto flipped over on to his stomach. "I could go with you to see Tsunade and I'm sure she's already half expecting it."

Sasuke crawled out of the water and lay beside Naruto. "If I did, I know Tobi would attack the village in search for me."

"Aww come on! Konoha can handle him!"

Sasuke smiled. "True but…"

"No but's! Lets go tonight!"

"Naruto…."

It grew quiet.

Then Naruto turned and looked at his dark-haired friend. He hesitantly started to trace a path from Sasuke's elbow to his hand. Sasuke stared at Naruto before glancing down at what the blond was doing. Reaching Sasukes hand Naruto boldly grasped it.

"I miss you and I…I really don't know if I can stand to go back without you."

Sasuke grasped the tan hand and as he opened his mouth to respond Naruto leaned in to press his lips against Sasuke's but Sasuke met him half way.

Pulling away Naruto smiled. Sasuke looked away with a blush on his face.

"I'm not saying I love you or anything yet, got it?" Sasuke muttered before diving back into the water.

Naruto chuckled and enjoyed the warm feeling in his stomach.

That night as Naruto headed out back to Konoha to see Tsunade he glanced back at Sasuke sleeping. "I wish you were coming Sasuke."

He hopped down from the cave entrance.

"So whats the plan?"

"Shit…Sasuke." Naruto gasped as the raven stood before him. "But I thought you were sleeping."

"Why? I've been out here for a half hour."

"Oh…your sleeping bag was full and…lumpy so I thought…"

"Just a clone." Sasuke smirked. "Got ya."

"Jerk." Naruto responded. "You were always doing things to piss me off when we were younger."

They both started to head for the village, making sure to keep quiet and keep low and hidden.

Tsunade was sitting back in her chair, sipping a small cup of saké while reading some report when the boys arrived.

Naruto tapped on her window and the blonde Hokage quickly let them in.

"Naruto…SASUKE!" Tsunade had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet. She was shocked to see the raven.

"So does this mean you wish to return to Konoha?" Tsunade asked, sitting back down.

Naruto looked at Sasuke knowing this was a question he had to answer.

"I do, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade sighed and sat forward. "Look, I know your story Sasuke as do the other Ninja teams who have aided Naruto in the search for you but the counsel and many others do not. This will not be easy. I have thought about it and I think a good start would be to address the villagers.

Bring them to our side. With them and our ninja on our side it will help convince the counsel to allow you back. However, Sasuke there will still be consequences."

"I understand."

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked.

"This may take awhile. Will you be okay on your own?"

They nodded.

"Sasuke, can you write down all of Konoha's enemies you have killed?"

Sasuke nodded and took the pen and paper she was handing him.

"Hokage-sama? May I come in?" Shizune asked from outside the office door.

Naruto and Sasuke rushed back to the window.

"Keep in touch." Tsunade whispered as the two disappeared. "Come in."

Shizune entered the room. "I thought I heard you talking with someone."

"Shizune, there is something we must talk about."

Returning quietly to their hideout, Naruto quickly dropped his any weapons he carried and climbed into his sleeping bag getting comfortable. Sasuke stood there deep in thought before finally snatching his own sleeping bag and placing it beside Naruto's.

Naruto blushed and turned to look at the raven.

Sasuke climbed into his sleeping bag and fell silent.

Naruto stared, waiting for the other man to say something.

"Do you you really think this is a good idea?"

"What? Of course! I'll do whatever it takes for you to be allowed back home with me."

"Is this worth it?"

Naruto groaned and lay back down. "Sasuke, I know there will challenges that we will have to face to get you back home but we'll face them together. So you made some mistakes but I think you had to make them to learn from them. Make sense?"

Sasuke chuckled and Naruto saw him nod. "Dobe, such a sap."

"Oi! I am not!" Naruto lightly punched the man.

Sasuke ignored him and Naruto lay back down. It grew quiet and as he was nodding off Sasuke whispered, "I love you, moron."

Naruto smiled. "I love you too, Teme."

The next morning Naruto and Sasuke shot out of bed at the sound of nearby whispering voices and branches shaking as ninja landed on them. Then they heard a chilling chuckle.

"Well, could he be hiding here? Sasuke, come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Naruto and Sasuke scrambled about to gather what little they had unpacked and shove it into Naruto's bag. Slipping on the backpack the two inched toward the edge of the cave.

Tobi was right below them and around him searching the rest of the area were five other unknown ninja. Sasuke and Naruto knelt over the edge of the cave and just as Tobi jumped up they both jumped down landing somewhat quietly on the water behind the waterfall which masked any sound they may have made.

Focusing only on escaping the area, Naruto and Sasuke easily slipped away from the other ninja by slipping into the nearby tree tops.

"What the hell was that? Has he been searching for you this whole time?" Naruto asked when they were further away.

Sasuke nodded. "I should have expected this. I let my guard down."

"At least we had masked our chakra."

"And he's masking his. He doesn't want us to know he's coming."

"We have to tell Tsunade!"

"Go to Konoha in broad Daylight?"

"We have to. He will come after Konoha next!"

Sasuke groaned at how complicated things were getting. "Fine."

They rushed toward the village hoping to get there before late afternoon.

Amethyst –Gem: Okay Tobi/Madara will be a little out of character but hey I'm trying. Anyway I hope you liked it. I'll work on the next one.


End file.
